United States v. Enrique Torres

ORDER

The memorandum disposition filed June 1, 1993 is redesignated a per curiam opinion.

OPINION

Enrique Torres seeks to appeal his sentence of 33 months, imposed under the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“Guidelines”), following his guilty plea to importing 117 pounds of marijuana into the United States in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952 and 960 and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . Torres claims the district court’s refusal to depart downward pursuant to United States v. Valdez-Gonzalez, 957 F.2d 643 (9th Cir.1992), rendered void his waiver of the right to appeal his sentence. Alternatively, he claims he should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea because the district court committed plain error by participating in the plea negotiations. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm the conviction. We decline to exercise jurisdiction to review Torres’s sentencing claims and we dismiss them.

A. Facts

Torres was arrested on February 5, 1992, less than a mile north of the Mexico-United States border with 117 pounds of marijuana in the back of his truck. The crime of importation, to which he pleaded guilty, exposed him to a maximum of 20 years., imprisonment and a $1 million…